die, he wrote to W. C. Cruikshank, the anatomist, begging him to dissect his body after death, as he feared his own surgeon, Mr Forster, who was then at Norwich and had undertaken the duty, might return too late. He died at Chelsea College 26 Dec. 1788 The post-mortem examination was, it is said actually made by Mr. Forster before the students of Guy's Hospital.
Monsey was buried at Chelsea; but in 1868 a tablet was erected to his memory by his descendants, John Collyer and John Monsey Collyer, in the church of Whitwell, now Hackford, Norfolk, a small manor which he had inherited from his father, whom he commemorated in a similar manner.
He left an only daughter, who married William Alexander, elder brother of the first Earl of Caledon, and was grandmother of Robert Monsey Rolfe, the first lord Cranworth, lord chancellor.
The College of Physicians possesses a fine portrait in oils of Monsey, painted by Mary Black in 1764. A singular drawing of him in extreme old age, by Forster, was engraved by Bromley. A caricature portrait in colours, entitled 'Ornaments of Chelsea Hospital,' was published 19 Jan. 1789, without any artist's name, but with some irreverent verses by Peter Pindar, which have been wrongly attributed to Monsey himself. Some manuscript letters and verses by Monsey are in the library of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.
[Sketch of the Life and Character of the late Dr. Monsey, London, 1789, 8vo (anon.); J. Cordy Jeaffreson's Book about Doctors, partly from original documents; Munk's Coll. of Phys. 1878, ii. 84; information kindly supplied by J. B. Bailey, esq.]
MONSON, GEORGE (1730–1776), Indian officer and opponent of Warren Hastings, born 18 April 1730, in Arlington Street, London, was third and youngest son of John, first lord Monson (1693–1748) [q. v.], and his wife, Lady Margaret Watson, youngest daughter of Lewis, first earl of Rockingham. At the age of nine he was sent to Westminster School, then under the mastership of Dr. Nicholls. He went to the continent in 1747, remained abroad a year or two, and was at Geneva 8 Nov. 1748. He received his commission of ensign in the 1st foot-guards 24 Nov. 1750. On 5 Jan. 1754 he received a lieutenant's commission, with rank of captain in the army. He was elected one of the members for the city of Lincoln in 1754, and re-elected in 1761, retaining his seat till 1768. In 1756 he was appointed one of the grooms of the bedchamber in the household of the young Prince of Wales; and he retained the post when the prince became king, 25 Nov. 1760. He exchanged from the guards into Draper's regiment (first the 64th and afterwards made the 79th), which was raised in 1757, and his major's commission in it bore date 18 Aug. 1757. He sailed for India with his regiment 5 March 1758, and reached Bombay 14 Nov. and Madras in February 1759. He was second in command at the siege of Pondicherry, 1760, and Colonel Eyre Coote was superseded in his favour by an order from the directors of the East India Company. But before Coote sailed from Bengal Monson was seriously wounded, and the conduct of affairs fell again into Coote's hands. The town surrendered on 14 Jan. 1761. Monson especially distinguished himself at the capture of Manilla, 1762. He became lieutenant-colonel in September 1760, and was on 20 Jan. 1761 given command of the 96th foot. He received the rank of brigadier-general in India 7 July 1763. At the peace of Paris he returned to England, was presented to the king 23 Dec. 1764, and assiduously supported Lord North in parliament. On 30 Nov. 1769 he became full colonel and aide-de-camp to the king, who said that 'though not a strong man he had excellent brains' (Merivale, Life of Francis, i. 326).
In the Regulating Act of 1773 he was named one of the supreme council of Bengal. He arrived at Calcutta, with his wife, on 19 Oct. 1774, and took his seat in the council on 25 Oct. His wife had been previously acquainted with Warren Hastings, and the governor-general welcomed him in a specially courteous and cordial letter (Gleig, Life of Warren Hastings, i. 452-3). From the first he united with General (Sir John) Clavering [q. v.] and (Sir Philip) Francis [q.v.] in opposition to the policy of the governor-general. Hastings at first spoke well of him as 'a sensible man,' but before long he began to consider him even more dangerous than his colleagues. 'Colonel Monson, with a more guarded temper and a more regular conduct, now appears to be the most determined of the three. The rudeness of General Clavering and the petulancy of Francis are more provoking, but it is from the former only that I apprehend any effectual injury' (ib. p. 517). Monson was especially active in the affair of Nanda-Kumár Nuncomar) 'he receives, and I have been assured even condescends to solicit, accusations' (ib. p. 516) and himself moved that the raja be called before the board to substantiate his charges against Hastings (Forrest, Selections from State Papers, &c.,
